The bottom two teams in Group B will lock horns on Tuesday evening, as Kosovo welcome Georgia to Fadil Vokrri Stadium.
Georgia are bottom of the section with just one point to show from their six World Cup 2022 qualification fixtures, while Kosovo have collected four points from their six matches to occupy fourth.
Match preview
© Reuters
Kosovo were looking to bounce back from their defeat against Spain when they travelled to Sweden on Saturday, but the home side proved to be too strong on the night, as Emil Forsberg, Alexander Isak and Robin Quaison scored in a three-goal success.
The defeat has left Bernard Challandes's side in fourth position in Group B, having won one, drawn one and lost four of their six matches to collect four points.
Kosovo only picked up one point from their 10 qualification matches for the 2018 World Cup, while they also found it difficult to compete during their Euro 2020 challenge, so this campaign has been a step forward.
Challandes's team recorded a 1-0 victory over Georgia in the reverse match in September and will view this match as the ideal chance to put another three points on the board ahead of their final Group B contest away to Greece in the middle of November.
© Reuters
Georgia, meanwhile, will enter the contest off the back of a 2-0 home defeat to Greece on Saturday, with the visitors scoring twice in second-half stoppage time to secure all three points.
The Crusaders have just a single point to show from their six matches in the section, which came away to Greece back in March, and they will now finish their campaign with fixtures against Kosovo and Sweden.
Willy Sagnol's side have now been beaten in their last three matches without scoring a single goal, but they only narrowly lost at home to Spain in March and have therefore made steps forward in this qualification campaign.
Georgia have never qualified for the finals of a World Cup, while they have only won one qualification match in each of their last three campaigns, so it is not a surprise to see them at the bottom of the section.
- L
- L
- W
- D
- L
- L
- L
- W
- W
- D
- L
- L
- L
- L
- D
- L
- L
- L
- W
- L
- L
- L
- L
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Kosovo boss Challandes is expected to resist the temptation to make wholesale changes from the side that started the three-goal loss to Sweden last time out.
Milot Rashica and Vedat Muriqi could again start as the front two in a 4-4-2 formation, while Zymer Bytyqi will hope to keep his position in a wide area for the home side.
There could be an alteration at full-back, though, with David Domgjoni potentially coming in for Mergim Vojvoda, which was a change that occurred during the clash with Sweden.
Georgia, meanwhile, were close to claiming a point against Greece on Saturday, and Sagnol will have been pleased with what he saw from his side for long stages of the contest.
As a result, it could be an unchanged XI for this match, with 20-year-old Georges Mikautadze again operating at the tip of the attack.
There will also be another start in midfield for 35-year-old midfielder Jaba Kankava, while the experienced Giorgi Loria will continue between the sticks.
Kosovo possible starting lineup:
Muric; Hadergjonaj, Rrahmani, Aliti, Domgjoni; Rashani, Loshaj, Dresevic, Bytyqi; Rashica, Muriqi
Georgia possible starting lineup:
Loria; Kakabadze, Khocholava, Dvali, Giorbelidze; Aburjania, Kankava; Kvaratskhelia, Chakvetadze, Lobzhanidze; Mikautadze
We say: Kosovo 1-1 Georgia
Georgia's overall performance against Greece on Saturday was encouraging, but Kosovo found it difficult to compete against Sweden for long spells. The home side will fancy their chances of triumphing here, but we are expecting Georgia to be good enough for a point on Tuesday night.
Top tip
Matt Law
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Kosovo win with a probability of 44.49%. A win for Georgia had a probability of 30.53% and a draw had a probability of 25%.
The most likely scoreline for a Kosovo win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.5%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.15%) and 2-0 (7.37%). The likeliest Georgia win was 0-1 (7.61%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.79%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with a 7.3% likelihood.
